


Here, Ye Be Dragons

by c0cunt



Series: BeruJean Week 2016 [2]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Dragons, M/M, Shapeshifting, accidental shapeshifting, dragon shifter!Jean
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-14
Updated: 2016-04-08
Packaged: 2018-05-26 16:44:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6247753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/c0cunt/pseuds/c0cunt
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bertholdt, son of an extremely accomplished witch and a world-renowned dragon shifter specialist, has always felt like he can never live up to his parents' expectations.  Most of his magic is weak, aside from healing spells (thanks, Reiner), he's never had an interest in studying dragon shifters like his father.  So when his parents head off for three weeks' worth of conferences on dragon shifters and magic, Bertholdt opts to stay home and invite his friends over for pizza and video games...Nothing really goes as planned.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A couple of notes for y'all: 1) This is supposed to be multichaptered, but I'm struggling really hard with the next few chapters, so bear with me while I write them.  
> 2) Jean's dragon form is based off of dragons from the game Flight Rising. Specifically, [this dragon](http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=lair&id=63640&tab=dragon&did=21795920), which I found (and now own in-game) as a reference for Jean's dragon form.

  Bertholdt had meant it when he had said “I owe you a favor, no questions asked,” to his friend Marco a few months ago.  However, this...Well, he did have a lot of questions, and maybe an objection, as Marco was standing in front of his house with what appeared to be...At least two dozen different bike chains interlocking and linked around the neck of a very large, very scaly problem that Marco wanted him to hold onto.  At least Marco looked more than a little apologetic; the dragon that was attached to him looked anything but, dark sand colored scales glittering in the sunlight and reflecting an almost honey gold color when the sun hit them just right, as it shifted its body weight from foot to foot, almost in an anxious way.  How they had even gotten to Bertholdt’s house, which was out in the middle of nowhere, was a mystery.  But, with no sign of Marco’s bicycle, Bertholdt couldn’t keep his eyes off of the (apparently very much not for show) large leathery wings folded up against the dragon’s side.

  “W-wait...Run that by me again?”  Bertholdt said, having completely ignored every word that had left Marco’s mouth since the “hello” about five minutes previously, unable to really listen when there was a  _ goddamn dragon _ on his front lawn.  Like, he knew they existed, he even had a teacher (Coach Shadis, the gym teacher) who had a wife who was a dragon shifter, and heck, his father specialized in researching dragon shifters, but it wasn’t something common enough that he could expect his friends to bring one along to his house after being invited over for a weekend of pizza and video games while his parents were away on work business for the next three weeks.  Marco smiled sheepishly at him, but the dragon seemed to be just plain annoyed, rolling its (his?  Or her?  Bertholdt wasn’t sure) golden eyes at him before pinning him with a glare.  Bertholdt kind of wanted to cower behind the front door, immediately averting his eyes from looking at the dragon, instead refocusing on Marco’s shoes.  Marco frowned up at the dragon, who just huffed loudly at Marco (was that a cloud of smoke coming out of its nose?) and laid its head down on the ground next to him, all four of its eyes glaring holes into Bertholdt’s knees.

  “You remember my best friend from middle school, Jean Kirschstein?”  Marco asked, rubbing just underneath his nose anxiously.  Bertholdt nodded slowly, remembering how sad Marco was that Jean had to move a few hours away before they all started high school, but he didn’t know the guy personally.  Marco smiled anxiously, and patted at the dragon’s nose (who snorted in annoyance, and yup, that was definitely a small cloud of smoke) and said “Well, we finally started hanging out again, and, uhm...Long story short, we both just found out that Jean can shift!  Like, who knew?  And well...Your dad’s the only one who has charms up on their house to accommodate for dragons, so…”  Oh no, Marco was bringing out the puppy eyes.  “So would it be alright if we stayed here until Jean figures out how to shift back?”

  Bertholdt let out a long sigh as he pinched the bridge of his nose.  Yeah, he did mind have a strange person/dragon in his house, but there wasn’t a human in existence that could refuse Marco Bodt’s puppy eyed look.  Stepping back, he motioned for Marco and Jean-the-dragon to follow him, making a beeline for his father’s study.  “Father said that there’s only two reasons for a dragon to shift for the first time,” Bertholdt said softly, waving his hand for the books he was thinking about to slowly float in his direction.  Jean-the-dragon snorted slightly, making Bertholdt jump and lose his concentration, the books immediately tumbling to the floor as he cringed.  Marco immediately went to pick up the books with a glare in Jean-the-dragon’s direction, while Bertholdt just stared in defeat at the books.  He sighed loudly before taking the stack that Marco had gathered, and placing them on the table nearby, shifting them into piles of “possibly helpful” and “these won’t help”.  

  “Uhm...As I said, father and other researchers have said there’s only two reasons a dragon shifts for the first time.  But, uhm...I can’t remember the reasons...This book,” Bertholdt lifted one of them books from the pile, and offered it to Marco, “should say what the reasons are, somewhere at least…”  Bertholdt trailed off, fidgeting before shuffling the pile of books around once more, anything to keep from focusing on how Jean-the-dragon was curiously looking over his shoulder at the books, a weird sort of purring noise coming quietly from the dragon’s throat that was making Bertholdt more than a little uncomfortable.  Mumbling apologies under his breath, Bertholdt shuffled away from the dragon, reshelving the unhelpful books as quickly as possible as Marco flipped through the pages of the book he was given, smiling proudly for a second with how quickly the books zipped back into their spots without having to concentrate as hard as before.  

  “I found it!”  Marco suddenly shouted, mere seconds after Bertholdt had tried to get the last three books to return to their spots at once.  Bertholdt flinched, waiting to hear the thud of the books land, not expecting the sudden  _ whoosh _ of wings beating and nearly getting smacked in the face suddenly by a tail.  He yelped, tumbling backwards to avoid getting smacked again, Marco ducking down behind him, as the air in the study was suddenly churned up by Jean’s wings.  “What the fuck Jean!  Stop that!”  Marco shouted, glaring at his friend who was hovering in front of the bookshelves, the books Bertholdt had been trying to reshelf before being interrupted were clutched in his talons.  Bertholdt zeroed in on the books in Jean’s talons, eyes narrowing as he saw that they were digging into the book’s spines (intentionally or unintentionally?), standing up very suddenly.  All four of Jean’s eyes focused on Bertholdt instantly, his tiny nostrils flaring as he slowly allowed himself to land clumsily, very obviously unpracticed.

  “May I have those books back?”  Bertholdt asked firmly, holding his hands out for them.  If his hands trembled a little bit, no one mentioned it, especially as Jean carefully placed the books into Bertholdt’s hands without protest.  Bertholdt let out little  _ tsk _ sounds as he inspected the books, easily fixing them up without a second thought as he turned back to Marco.  “Now, what did you find?”  Bertholdt asked, placing the now fixed books down, instead of attempting to put them away.  Marco blinked, looking between Bertholdt and Jean, before looking back at the book in his hands with a slight frown.  

  “It...Uh, it says here that, uh…That…” Marco cleared his throat, before directly quoting the book.  “‘There are only two reasons for a dragon to shift for the first time.  It occurs after the shifter starts puberty, and one of two things will trigger it.  Either the dragon will scent its mate for the first time, or the dragon will be defending itself against another dragon.’  So, uhm…Well, Jean, you weren’t defending yourself from a dragon, and the only thing that you sniffed before shifting was…”  Marco put the book down on the desk as he tugged something out of his back pocket, and Bertholdt wasn’t sure if he should laugh or cry when Marco revealed the pair of gloves Bertholdt had knit for him and given him yesterday after school.  Bertholdt could feel the nervous sweat prickling his armpits, and self consciously rubbed the back of his neck as he hunched over the book that Marco had put down.

  “Well, father will be excited about that at least,” Bertholdt mumbled dryly, flipping through pages of the book to see if there was any information on how to get a dragon to return to its human form.  For now, he wouldn’t pay attention to what had made Jean shift until after he was back in human form.  Then Bertholdt would freak out.  “Now how to get him to shift back…” Bertholdt grumbled, flicking quickly to the table of contents to see if there was anything on shifting that would be useful in this book.  At first glance, it appeared not, but maybe there was something in the chapter labelled “shifting trouble” that could be of use.  Bertholdt flipped through the pages quickly, vaguely listening to Marco flipping through a different book as Jean huffed quietly and settled down, his tail curling gently, unobtrusively (and possessively) around Bertholdt’s ankle.  There was mostly silence in the room as they both read, Jean running his talons along the carpeting until Bertholdt tapped his foot against Jean’s tail in a way that clearly meant “cease and desist”.  The most impressive thing was that Jean immediately did just that, and soon Bertholdt and Marco were both lost within the pages of the books they scoured for what felt like hours.  Eventually, Marco sighed and snapped the third book he had gone through shut, while Bertholdt pinched the bridge of his nose as he powered through a fourth book.

  “Okay, there seems to be only one definite way…” Marco said slowly, and Bertholdt sighed as he let his head fall back against the chair.  They had both read the same information, in slightly different books, but there was only one definite way that didn’t rely on how a person normally reacted to things like fear or pain.  Plus, neither of them really had it in them to “mortally wound” Jean, which was the only other definite way to force a shifter to return to human form.  “Which means...Which of us is going to be giving him a handy?”  Marco asked lightly, trying to make a joke out of the entire situation.  Jean, who had been lounging on his back with his four legs stretched into the air, rolled over and sat up suddenly, the fins on the sides of his head twitching in what could’ve been an anxious way.  Marco looked more than a little apprehensive as well, and Bertholdt decided to save the situation a little bit by explaining to Jean.

  “Y’see, Jean, the only way to definitely get you to shift back is for you to have an orgasm.  There are other ways, such as getting mortally wounded, but seeing as neither of us are going to hurt you, that isn’t going to happen.  But, uhm...Maybe it’d be best to wait and see if you can figure out how to shift back on your own?”  Bertholdt asked hopefully.  He so did not want to see a dragon dick, and he was betting neither did Marco.  Jean nodded rapidly, and both Bertholdt and Marco breathed a small sigh of relief.  

  Marco rolled his shoulders, before saying “I’m gonna go order pizzas for us.  Jean, you still like mushroom best, right?  Will Reiner be joining us?”  Jean nodded rapidly as Bertholdt shook his head; his best friend was grounded, for sneaking out to a party a few days ago and skipping school.  Bertholdt had warned him it was a bad idea, but when Reiner gets an idea into his head...Well, sometimes he just runs with it.  Marco nodded as he headed to the kitchen where the landline phone was, leaving Bertholdt and Jean alone.  Jean seemed to be torn between following Marco and staying with Bertholdt, who was looking through the index of the book he had been reading to see if there was any information on how long it takes a shifter to figure out how to shift back to human form.  When Bertholdt realized that Jean was still there, he smiled thinly at the poor dragon; he couldn’t even begin to imagine just how weird this whole situation must be for the poor guy.

  “Want me to read what’s here to you?”  Bertholdt asked softly, unsure if Jean could read with the two new eyes that he had.  Even with all the information he had in the books, there wasn’t much on if dragons could read as well as they could in human form.  Jean hesitated, before picking his way over carefully, and nodding several times.  Bertholdt took the time to sit in the more comfortable chair (the pile of books quickly following, tumbling over themselves to settle back into a small tower beside the chair), watching curiously as Jean curled his large body around the chair, resting his head gently on the pile of books and staring unblinkingly up at Bertholdt.  It was mildly unnerving to begin with, but it was surprisingly easy for Bertholdt to loosen up and begin reading to Jean.


	2. Chapter 2

  Bertholdt didn’t know for sure how long he sat and read to Jean.  But soon, one chapter turned into two, then three, then he was grabbing a new book.  Jean appeared to listen the entire time he read, content little sighs and grumbles rumbling out of his chest.  Bertholdt nearly jumped out of his skin when the doorbell rang, Jean leaping to his feet immediately with a low growl as his large head swung in the direction of the front door.  There was a shout of “I’ll get it!” that Bertholdt recognized as Marco’s voice, and it took a few seconds to realize that wow, the pizza had already gotten here?  Didn’t Marco leave the room only a few minutes ago to order it?  Jean was still standing defensively, the fins on either side of head spread in an impressive display that made Bertholdt pause.  It kind of reminded him of how the spitty dinosaurs in the Jurassic Park movies had those frilly things, except Jean’s were solidly the same color as the rest of his body.  Bertholdt would’ve thought more on that if Marco didn’t stride into the room soon after, a small tower of boxes in his hands, making Jean snarl fiercely.

  “Don’t do that,” Bertholdt scolded lightly, before hurrying forward to help Marco with the giant tower of pizzas (Marco, much to Bertholdt’s amusement, appeared to have been very close to shitting his pants with fright).  Jean’s eyes blinked rapidly for a second, his fins slowly flattening back against his neck, as he sniffed the air cautiously.  Bertholdt flipped open the lid on the top pizza, trying to find his preferred pineapple and anchovy pizza, only for Jean’s head to suddenly block his vision as he happily shoved his nose straight into the pizza in Bertholdt’s hands with an excited huff.  “Ah!  Jean, no!”  Bertholdt yelped, nearly dropping the stack of pizzas in his hands, which Marco immediately attempted to help him hold, shoving his stack of pizzas quickly onto the nearby table and sticking his hands directly under all of the pizzas, probably burning his hands in the process.  Jean huffed loudly as he lifted his head from the box, pizza sauce, cheese, and what was probably once a mushroom smeared across his muzzle, a scowl crossing his face as he backed away from the two of them.  Bertholdt sighed slightly as he moved to put the pizzas he still held onto the table with the rest of them.

  “Jean, fuck the fuck off and stop acting like an asshole for like, three seconds maybe?”  Marco snapped, frowning mightily at his best friend, who had started to “sneakily” attempt to shove his face back into the top pizza.  Jean let out a grumbly whining noise, like an upset cat, or dog, which made Bertholdt pause.  Didn’t his dad once say that cats and dragons usually act similarly?  Or...Was it dragons and dogs?  Marco just shook his head at Jean as he flipped open lids and separated the pizza boxes into three stacks.  “I literally have no clue what that was about, but jesus, Jean, you could’ve made Bertl drop all those pizzas, and that would’ve been rude _and_ a huge waste of money,”  Marco said, pausing in his pizza sorting to pull a slice of pepperoni pizza out of one of the boxes and munch on it happily.  Jean didn’t seem to be listening anymore, flipping onto his back and raising his limbs above his head to stare at them intently.  Or, which was more likely the case, pretending to be focused on looking at his claws to get Marco to stop badgering him.  Either way, it made Bertholdt laugh slightly, and Jean twisted his head around to watch him once more, his tail sweeping across the carpet in a ticktock motion, obviously pleased.

  “So, what’s our plan of action now?”  Marco asked once the pizzas were sorted, claiming his stack of pepperoni pizzas.  Bertholdt lifted a shoulder, unconcerned, as he brought Jean’s stack of pizzas closer to him (Jean excitedly rolling onto his feet and wiggling with unrestrained delight), before taking a slice of his own pizza.

  “It’s a waiting game at this point, really.  Jean has to learn to control the dragon part of himself, and since he hadn’t even known there was a dragon part to control, that could take a while.  According to this book,” Berthold lifted up the book he had been reading aloud, “it shouldn’t take more than a day, even for shifters who didn’t know about their dragon parts.  What time did he shift around, approximately?”  Bertholdt asked, coughing slightly as anchovy bones got caught in the back of his throat for a second.  Marco hummed slightly as he looked at his watch with a slight frown, swallowing his mouthful of pizza.

  “I want to say...Close to noon?  Maybe a bit earlier?  Jean woke up late so we didn’t even get to meet up until 11:30…”  Marco trailed off, shoving another bite of pizza into his mouth.  The whole atmosphere in the room was mildly awkward, at least to him.  His best friend was a dragon because he had sniffed the scarf that one of Marco’s good friends had knit for him.  It was like the plot of a really stupid book or something.  Sure, dragon shifters were well known to have a better sense of smell than full humans like himself, but still.  Marco sent an apologetic look at Bertholdt, but he might as well not have:  Bertholdt was watching Jean attempt to move his empty box off the top of the pile, his four eyes narrowed in concentration as his claws carefully gripped the empty one, oblivious to everything around him while Bertholdt seemed to be mentally cheering him on.  Marco was used to Bertholdt’s silent encouraging looks, but the ones he was giving Jean were...Different.  He wasn’t sure how, but they were.  He was almost reminded of one of the documentaries that Mr. Hoover had starred in as he spoke of his research, but even that comparison wasn’t right.  Marco shrugged it off for now; there’d be plenty of time in the next day or so to watch and figure out what exactly was going on in Bertholdt’s head.

  “Do you still have that old Mario Kart game?”  Marco asked, gaining Bertholdt’s attention again.  He nodded, wiping his greasy hands on his pants as he went to go get the game, mumbling about setting it up in here instead of his bedroom like they normally would.  Jean had just successfully gotten to his next pizza without smushing the others or causing the stack to fall, a rumbling triumphant noise resonating in his chest, looking up as Bertholdt stood.  Marco could practically hear Jean asking for praise on his success, and Bertholdt’s smile and thumbs up in his direction made Jean’s tail slide across the ground like a dog’s.  Once Bertholdt was out of the room, Marco turned to Jean, a serious look on his face.

  “Jean, listen to me.” Marco waited until all of Jean’s eyes were focused on him, the marginally darker color of his pupils in his entirely brown eyes still weird and mildly unnerving.  Taking a deep breath, Marco continued, “I know I don’t really know much about dragons, but...Just don’t let your dragon part take over completely as far as Bertholdt’s concerned, okay?  He’s a nice guy, even though he doesn’t think he’s good or anything.  I can’t speak for him either, but if I had someone interested in me purely because of their instincts and nothing else...That’d be a insulting.”  Jean appeared to grow more agitated as Marco spoke, obviously angry about not being able to defend himself or speak human tongues in his current form.

  “Just...Get to know him once you shift back, instead of diving into it head first like you usually do with everything,” Marco said softly, hoping that Jean was indeed listening to him.  He didn’t want either of his friends hurt in all of this, instincts be damned.  Before much else could be said, Bertholdt was back, carrying his old N64 with the game cartridge already shoved in and a small stack of other games piled on top, the TV floating a few inches in front of him, wires tangled everywhere.  Marco immediately went to grab the TV (even though Bertholdt’s repairing magic was fantastic, he didn’t want it to come down to that), and soon the two of them were setting up the game in relative silence.  Jean had abandoned his stack of pizzas to curl around the chair that Bertholdt was sitting in, the tip of his tail curling possessively around his ankle once more.

  “Ready to get your butt kicked?”  Bertholdt joked with a grin as he selected Princess Peach.  Marco snorted at that as he selected Toad.  No one could beat him with Toad.

  “Bring it,” Marco laughed, letting Bertholdt select the courses and everything else, shuffling a small pile of pillows from the armchairs strewn about the room into a comfortable seat, ready for the game to start.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After tiring from all the pizza and video games from last chapter, Bertholdt makes sure his guests are comfortable before bed.

  Bertholdt had offered Marco the guest room to stay in overnight, as he had planned to offer earlier before the whole dragon thing was sprung upon him.  The only issue now was, where would Jean be sleeping?  It would be easy to use his magic to make the pull out sofa large enough for Jean, but it would still be just as fragile and would probably collapse underneath the dragon’s weight.  Which is how Bertholdt had ended up shuffling through his closet for his old sleeping bag, intent on using his magic to make it large enough for Jean to fit under.  Marco was currently showing Jean around while Bertholdt tried to find the damn thing that had apparently disappeared between the last time he had accompanied his father on a field study about four years ago and now.  It  _ had _ been just on the shelf above the clothes rack, but either it hadn’t been placed back where Bertholdt remembered it to be, or it was hidden underneath piles of junk that he hadn’t wanted to deal with.  Awards and papers and sheets over old projects that Bertholdt had abandoned from potential science fairs past, shoved onto the top shelf where even he had to stand on tiptoes to reach them.  But still no sleeping bag, and after searching so long that he could hear Marco talking to Jean about the plants his mother kept, obviously done with showing off the home, Bertholdt was so done with trying to find the damn thing.

  Frustrated, Bertholdt eventually just grabbed the largest blanket he had, folded it in half, and worked his magic into it.   Kneading his long fingers into the soft, thick polyester fabric until the blanket was just about double his own height, and hoping that his magic would hold for as long as Jean was still shifted.  And hopefully Jean wouldn’t mind having to curl up a little bit.  Feeling just a bit proud of his handiwork, Bertholdt bundled the blanket up into his arms and stumbled out of the room to find wherever Marco had decided to lead Jean off to.  He wasn’t expecting to find them in the greenhouse attached off of the kitchen, but there they were.  Jean’s head was moving slowly as he took in the mildly unnerving sight of the dead and dying bushes that Bertholdt hadn’t found the energy to clear out just yet, the dimly lighted path barely giving enough light for Marco’s face to be visible.  Bertholdt sighed as he put the blanket down, magic already reacting to start folding it up, and heading out into the greenhouse to catch the tail end of whatever Marco was saying.

  “...Used to do all sorts of things with the flowers he had here, but…”  Marco trailed off, apparently noticing Bertholdt heading their way, and forced himself to cheer up slightly.  “Speak of the devil and he shall appear,” Marco laughed, Jean’s head swinging around from staring at dead plants so quickly that many of the dead leaves were stirred up and went flying from the movement.  Either dragon facial expressions were harder to read than his father had said they were, or Jean was just keeping his face carefully neutral, because either way Bertholdt didn’t know what he was thinking or feeling.  And that kind of unnerved him:  He kind of wanted to know what Jean was thinking about his dead garden, something that he hadn’t even put a thought into lately.  But now that he was out here, Bertholdt’s hands were itching to do...Something, as long as it kept those almost golden brown eyes on him.  With a frown and a shake of his head, Bertholdt remembered exactly why he had come out here.

  “I couldn’t find my old sleeping bag, so hopefully the blanket I worked on will be enough?”  Bertholdt asked, dropping his eyes when he realized he’d been staring at Jean’s shimmering scales.  Marco let out a quiet laugh, as if trying to get Jean’s unwavering attention off of Bertholdt (who was starting to sweat under his intense gaze).

  “Does this mean you want us to come inside, mom?”  Marco barked out another laugh that sounded a bit less forced than the other one had.  Jean’s head tilted almost comically onto one side, blinking slowly like a cat a few times.  Bertholdt frowned at Marco’s joking, but decided to go along with it a bit.

  “Yes, inside boys, now.”  Bertholdt demanded quietly, gesturing to the still open kitchen door, and was nearly barreled over by Jean’s quick compliance with his order.  Marco barely contained his laughter at the near offended look that had slapped itself onto Bertholdt’s face when Jean’s wing gently whapped him on the side of the head.  Marco rushed inside as well, gently nudging Bertholdt’s shoulder as he passed, leaving poor Bertholdt to stare after the pair of them (who were now wrestling with the giant blanket like children).  Grumbling under his breath about getting knocked into, Bertholdt had to remind himself that dragon shifters weren’t able to refuse an order stated by their mates, even if jokingly stated.  It was going to be a long night.

 

* * *

  
  


  Bertholdt hadn’t really cared originally when Jean had wrapped himself up in the giant blanket and wandered around the house.  It was actually pretty endearing, watching a giant lizard stalk around with its body wrapped in the blanket as if it were a cloak, like Bertholdt himself would sometimes do if he were sick or bored, imagining that he were a powerful wizard in stately robes.  But as it grew later, and Jean seemed to become more agitated after Marco had fallen asleep, Bertholdt had decided to quietly follow the shifter, who almost seemed to be looking for something.

  Snout to the ground, nostrils flaring ever so slightly, Jean’s talons  _ taptaptapped _ loudly against the hardwood floors as he wandered, covering the quiet noise of Bertholdt’s slow footsteps.  Jean’s tail thrashed the closer they drew to his parents’ bedroom, and the shifter seemed to hold his breath as he hurried past, apparently not wanting that scent in his nose any more than it already was.  Bertholdt vaguely remembered his father telling him that too many human or shifter scents, that weren’t related to the dragon sniffing (or their mate), could cause migraines in dragons that weren’t able to ignore the scents.  And, well,  _ obviously _ it wasn’t likely that Jean would be able to filter out new scents just yet.  Maybe that’s why he was wandering around, Bertholdt concluded, as Jean looked longingly out to the greenhouse, with its open slat windows allowing scents to breeze through easily.

  The greenhouse probably was the best place for Jean to sleep in, until he learned to ignore new scents.  Bertholdt couldn’t help but feel worried about how Jean would handle going back to school, watching as Jean carefully attempted to open the back door with his clumsy paw.  It would be overwhelming for a new shifter, especially one who didn’t even know he was a shifter, as many schools didn’t provide accommodations for them.  Another reason to fight for legislation for dragon shifters to be treated just as their fully human counterparts were, the voice of Bertholdt’s father snapped in his head, since most shifters were unable to finish public schooling and could not advance after they had found their mate, without any help provided.  Bertholdt didn’t use to feel one way or the other on that issue.  But as he watched Jean struggle to get the back door open, he couldn’t help but feel really shitty about not wholeheartedly trying to help his father get legislation passed.  

  Not wanting to watch Jean struggle any longer, Bertholdt stepped forward, just as he had gotten just enough of a twist to the knob to get the door to open, a happy coo falling from his throat at the same time he realized Bertholdt was there.  The happy coo stopped abruptly, and Bertholdt was immediately reminded of the one time when he was sick and his mother hadn’t allowed him to go outside.  Jean looked just as he had felt then, a look of mingling guilt and shame as he ducked his head down, waiting for the scolding that should occur.  Bertholdt tried to force himself to smile as he stepped forward, reaching around Jean’s form to push the door open.  All four of Jean’s eyes blinked widely, looking between the open door and Bertholdt.

  “All these scents in here are a bit overwhelming, aren’t they?”  Bertholdt asked cautiously.  Jean nodded a few times, but still hesitated to go outside.  Bertholdt couldn’t figure out what it was that kept Jean from going, until he remembered what he had said earlier.  “You can go outside if you’d like Jean, I’m not forcing you to stay in here.  I’m sorry for bossing you around earlier…” Bertholdt mumbled, trailing off as Jean dashed outside.  The shifter took a deep breath, nails scraping harshly against the stone path that decorated the ground.  Bertholdt smiled slightly, and turned to go back inside, only to feel a gentle tug at his ankle.  It was, once again, Jean’s tail, wrapped around his ankle, and when Bertholdt looked up at Jean there was a questioning tilt to his head as if asking ‘will you come out here with me?’

  As much as Bertholdt wanted to go back inside, thoughts of his soft bed and multitude of pillows dancing on the edge of his mind, he couldn’t just let Jean sleep out here all alone.  So Bertholdt smiled gently and said “You better share that blanket then,” which made another happy cooing sound come from Jean’s throat.  It was followed almost immediately by a purr as he shook the blanket off of his back and stretched it on the ground, carefully pulling and prodding at it until Jean deemed it satisfactory.  Bertholdt hesitantly dropped to his knees on the blanket, crawling until he was directly in the center, and let out a tiny, surprised ‘oh!’ when Jean wound his body around him, a wing draping over him as the tip of his tail once again curled around an ankle protectively.

  It was so warm, surrounded on all sides by Jean, his leathery wing blocking out what little light the moon and stars had been giving them.  Bertholdt could almost imagine the blood vessels in Jean’s wing, imagining seeing it with sunlight streaming through it like a bat’s wing, if only there was enough light to confirm this.  Almost without thought, Bertholdt had reached out and started gently stroking Jean’s wing, who shuddered visibly as his purring become louder, and a started to sound more desirous.  Bertholdt felt his cheeks heating up as he twisted around to look at Jean’s face, whose eyes had turned to liquid copper as he watched Bertholdt continue to stroke his wing gently.  Jean tilted his head questioningly again, but aside from that he didn’t encourage or discourage Bertholdt’s hand as it wandered down his wing, to gently play with where it joined his body, and continued downward.

  “I-if you want this,” Bertholdt squeaked, his voice cracking slightly on his words, “I can, y’know...But you have to let me know if you don’t…”  He bit at his lips, not letting himself watch where his hand was going as it stroked across Jean’s scaly belly, hoping that there wasn’t enough light that Jean could see him blushing.  A rumbling growl came from Jean’s throat, and he closed his eyes, nails scraping against the blanket in anticipation, and Bertholdt hoped he knew exactly what he was getting himself into now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...Just a quick warning, next chapter will bump the rating up.


End file.
